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First Response

By Stephen Leather

£7.99

The next utterly addictive all-action thriller from Stephen Leather, bestselling author of the Spider Shepherd and Jack Nightingale thrillers.

From the bestselling author of the Spider Shepherd and Jack Nightingale series comes First Response, the utterly addictive new thriller by Stephen Leather.

London is under siege.

Nine men in suicide vests primed to explode hold hostages in nine different locations around the city, and are ready to die for their cause.

Their mission: to force the government to release jihadist prisoners from Belmarsh Prison.

Their deadline: 6 p.m. Today.

But the bombers are cleanskins, terrorists with no obvious link to any group, and who do not appear on any anti-terror watch list. What has brought them together on this one day to act in this way?

Mo Kamran is the Superintendent in charge of the Special Crime and Operations branch of the Met. As the disaster unfolds and the SAS, armed police, and other emergency services rush to the scenes, he is tasked with preventing the biggest terrorist outrage the capital has ever known.

But nothing is what it seems. And only Kamran has the big picture. Will anyone believe him?

A chillingly plausible and pulse-pounding depiction of how London might be held to ransom in a concerted terrorist attack: this is thriller writing at its very best.

Biographical Notes

Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers, an ebook and Sunday Times bestseller and author of the critically acclaimed Dan 'Spider' Shepherd series and the Jack Nightingale supernatural detective novels. Before becoming a novelist he was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mirror, the Glasgow Herald, the Daily Mail and the South China MorningPost in Hong Kong. He is one of the country's most successful ebook authors and his titles have topped the Amazon Kindle charts in the UK and the US. His bestsellers have been translated into fifteen languages and he has also written for television.

You can learn more from Stephen's website, www.stephenleather.com, find him on Facebook, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/stephenleather.

Stephen also has a website for his Spider Shepherd series, www.danspidershepherd.com, and for his Jack Nightingale series, www.jacknightingale.com.

Other details

ISBN:
9781473604575

Publication date:
25 Aug 2016

Page count:
384

Imprint:
Hodder Paperbacks

The sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist — Sunday Express

Leather has the rare knack of writing in such a way that you almost feel as if you are watching a film . . . I devoured chapter after chapter late into the night — www.crimesquad.com on FAIR GAME

As tough as British thriller writers get — Irish Independent

Explores complex contemporary issues while keeping the action fast and bloody — Economist on DEAD MEN

It is the authenticity of this plot that grasps the imagination and never lets it go. — Daily Mail

Hodder & Stoughton

Short Range

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

The explosive new thriller in the Spider Shepherd seriesDan 'Spider' Shepherd's career path - soldier, policeman, MI5 officer - has always put a strain on his family. So he is far from happy to learn that MI5 is using teenagers as informants. Parents are being kept in the dark and Shepherd fears that the children are being exploited.As an undercover specialist, Shepherd is tasked with protecting a 15-year-old schoolboy who is being used to gather evidence against violent drug dealers and a right-wing terrorist group. But when the boy's life is threatened, Shepherd has no choice but to step in and take the heat.And while Shepherd's problems mount up at work, he has even greater problems closer to home. His son Liam has fallen foul of the Serbian Mafia and if Shepherd doesn't intervene, Liam will die.Praise for Stephen Leather'A master of the thriller genre'Irish Times'As tough as British thrillers get . . . gripping' Irish Independent 'The sheer impetus of his story-telling is damned hard to resist'Sunday Express

Last Man Standing

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

Friendships forged in the heat of combat can be stronger than anything.So when SAS trooper Matt Standing is told that the former Navy SEAL who saved his life is in trouble, he doesn't hesitate to go to his aid - even if that means flying half way around the world to Los Angeles. Navy SEAL-turned-bodyguard Bobby-Ray Barnes has been accused of killing the man he was supposed to be protecting. Three other bodyguards were also killed and now Bobby-Ray is on the run. The dead client was a Russian oligarch with connections to the Kremlin. But who wanted him dead? And if Bobby-Ray wasn't the killer, who carried out the assassination and why is Bobby-Ray being framed? Standing is the only man who can answer those questions - providing he can stay alive long enough. Praise for bestselling author Stephen Leather'The sheer impetus of his storytelling is damned hard to resist' Sunday Express'A master of the thriller genre' Irish Times'As tough as British thriller writers get' Irish Independent

Friends Like These

Sarah Alderson

Moscow, Midnight

John Simpson

Authors:

John Simpson

MP Patrick Macready has been found dead in his flat. The coroner rules it an accident, a sex game gone wrong. Jon Swift is from the old stock of journos - cynical, cantankerous and overweight - and something about his friend's death doesn't seem right. Then days after Macready's flat is apparently burgled, Swift discovers that his friend had been researching a string of Russian government figures who had met similarly 'accidental' fates. When the police refuse to investigate further, Swift gets in touch with his contacts in Moscow, determined to find out if his hunch is correct. Following the lead, he is soon drawn into a violent underworld, where whispers of conspiracies, assassinations and double-agents start blurring the line between friend and foe.But the truth will come at a price, and it may cost him everything.

Fasten your seatbelts for an anthology of turbulent tales curated by Stephen King and Bev Vincent. This exciting new collection, perfect for airport or aeroplane reading, includes an original introduction and story notes for each story by Stephen King, and brand new stories from Stephen King and Joe Hill.Stephen King hates to fly.Now he and co-editor Bev Vincent would like to share this fear of flying with you.Welcome to Flight or Fright, an anthology about all the things that can go horribly wrong when you're suspended six miles in the air, hurtling through space at more than 500 mph and sealed up in a metal tube (like - gulp! - a coffin) with hundreds of strangers. All the ways your trip into the friendly skies can turn into a nightmare, including some we'll bet you've never thought of before... but now you will the next time you walk down the jetway and place your fate in the hands of a total stranger.Featuring brand new stories by Joe Hill and Stephen King, as well as fourteen classic tales and one poem from the likes of Richard Matheson, Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, Dan Simmons, and many others, Flight or Fright is, as King says, "ideal airplane reading, especially on stormy descents... Even if you are safe on the ground, you might want to buckle up nice and tight."Book a flight for this terrifying new anthology that will have you thinking twice about how you want to reach your final destination.Table of Contents:Introduction by Stephen KingCargo by E. Michael LewisThe Horror of the Heights by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleNightmare at 20,000 Feet by Richard MathesonThe Flying Machine by Ambrose BierceLucifer! by E.C. TubbThe Fifth Category by Tom BissellTwo Minutes Forty-Five Seconds by Dan SimmonsDiablitos by Cody GoodfellowAir Raid by John VarleyYou Are Released by Joe HillWarbirds by David J. SchowThe Flying Machine by Ray BradburyZombies on a Plane by Bev VincentThey Shall Not Grow Old by Roald DahlMurder in the Air by Peter TremayneThe Turbulence Expert by Stephen KingFalling by James L. DickeyAfterword by Bev Vincent

Tall Order

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

Revenge is a dish best served cold. But patience can be a tall order.He is one of the world's most ruthless terrorists, codenamed Saladin. He plans and executes devastating attacks and then, ghost-like, he disappears.Ten years ago he blew a plane out of the sky above New York - and now he's killed dozens in a London strike.But one of the latest victims is related to the acting head of MI5, who knows exactly who she wants on the case: Spider Shepherd.Dean Martin, a psychologically damaged former Navy SEAL, is the only person in the world who can identify Saladin. But Martin was killed ten years ago - wasn't he?Shepherd must find Martin and take him back to the killing fields on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Revenge on the world's most wanted terrorist is long overdue, and Shepherd is determined to be the one to deliver it . . .******************Praise for Stephen Leather'A master of the thriller genre'Irish Times'As tough as British thrillers get . . . gripping' Irish Independent 'The sheer impetus of his story-telling is damned hard to resist'Sunday Express

Take Me In

Sabine Durrant

The Reckoning

Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Global Strike

Chris Ryan

Authors:

Chris Ryan

Charles Street was once a highly-respected agent working for MI6, until a terrible mistake cost him his job. Now he's a desperate man, living on past glories and struggling to make ends meet. Until he makes a discovery that has the power to bring down the new President of the United States. But when Street tries to cash in on this discovery, he finds himself pursued by a Russian snatch squad.Strike Back hero John Porter and Regiment renegade John Bald are recruited by their handler to head to Washington, D.C. Their mission: find Street before the Russians.What begins as a routine exfiltration quickly descends into a brutal struggle and the ex-SAS legends will need to use all of their fighting instincts to stay alive.A startling revelation that leads from the White House to the Kremlin threatens to trigger a new global conflict...

The Foreigner: the bestselling thriller now starring Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

Stephen Leather's BESTSELLING breakthrough thriller, previously published as THE CHINAMAN - perfect for fans of Lee Child and James Patterson. He understood death.Jungle-skilled, silent and lethal, he had killed for the Viet Cong and then for the Americans. He had watched helpless when his two eldest daughters had been raped and killed by Thai pirates.Now all that was behind him. Quiet, hard-working and unassuming, he was building up his South London take-away business.Until the day his wife and youngest daughter were destroyed by an IRA bomb in a Knightsbridge department store.Then, simply but persistently, he began to ask the authorities who were the men responsible, what was being done. And was turned away, fobbed off, treated as a nuisance.Which was when, denied justice, he decided on revenge. And went back to war.Praise for Stephen Leather'Explores complex contemporary issues while keeping the action fast and bloody'Economist'Action and scalpel-sharp suspense' Daily Telegraph'The sheer impetus of his story-telling is damned hard to resist'Sunday Express

Light Touch

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

Working undercover is all about trust - getting the target to trust you and then betraying them in order to bring them to justice.But what do you do when you believe an undercover cop has crossed the line and aligned herself with the international drugs smuggler she was supposed to be targeting?When a deep-undercover cop stops passing on intelligence about her target, MI5 sends in Dan 'Spider' Shepherd to check that she is on the straight and narrow.Now two lives are on the line - and Shepherd discovers that the real danger is closer to home than he realised.As Spider finds his loyalties being tested to the limit, an SAS killer is on a revenge mission in London and only Spider can stop him.'[Leather] has the uncanny knack of producing plots that are all too real' Daily Mail'Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it' - Sun

Crime Song

David Swinson

Shadow Kill

Chris Ryan

Authors:

Chris Ryan

Held up by rebel forces in a brutal siege, John Porter is tested to the limit in the African jungle. Strikeback hero John Porter is sent on a mission with Regimental scallywag John Bald. Where Porter plays it by the book, Bald will always want to break the rules.They are sent to Sierra Leone to extract Ronald Soames, a former CO of the Regiment and now right-hand man to the President. But when Porter and Bald arrive the Englishman has disappeared, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Rebels are threatening to take over the country and its diamond mines - and to massacre all foreigners.Porter and Bald find themselves fighting shoulder to shoulder with the Regiment psychopath who is already embedded in the country.But it soon becomes clear that the Firm has lied to them about the true nature of the mission.What seems at first to be a battle to control Sierra Leone's diamond mines will turn out to about a much greater evil - and with a trail that leads back to both Westminster and the Kremlin.

Takedown

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

A heart-pounding new standalone thriller from Sunday Times bestselling author Stephen Leather. 'He has the uncanny knack of producing plots that are all too real, and this is no exception' (Daily Mail on First Response)When a British Special Forces soldier goes rogue, carrying out an attack at a US army base in Syria leading to the death of two men, ex-MI5 controller Charlotte Button is hired to take him down.Charlotte puts her best man on the case - hitman Lex Harper. It's up to Lex to assemble a crack team and get to the soldier before he carries out what could be a massive terrorist attack. But Charlotte might require Lex's help with a more personal problem too . . .As ex-MI5, Charlotte holds information on thousands of the agency's dirty operations, and keeps a store of those secrets in three flash drives hidden in separate safety deposit vaults. Now someone is taking extraordinary measures to recover the secrets through Hatton Garden-style robberies. So far two vaults have been raided, and two flash drives have gone. If the third is stolen, Charlotte's life will be in jeopardy. While it's down to Lex to prevent a potential terrorist attack on British soil, Charlotte must work out who is after her and what they want.

Dark Forces

Stephen Leather

Authors:

Stephen Leather

When you're caught between two evils, only the most decisive will survive. The thirteenth book in action supremo Stephen Leather's Spider Shepherd series is his most pulse-pounding yet . . . A violent South London gang will be destroyed if Dan 'Spider' Shepherd can gather enough evidence against them while posing as a ruthless hitman. What he doesn't know is that his work as an undercover agent for MI5 is about to intersect with the biggest terrorist operation ever carried out on British soil.Only weeks before Shepherd witnessed a highly skilled IS sniper escape from a targeted missile strike in Syria. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect to next come across the shooter in a grimy East London flat.Spider's going to have to proceed with extreme caution if he is to prevent the death of hundreds of people, but at the same time, when the crucial moment comes he will have to act decisively. The clock is ticking and only he stands between us and Armageddon....'Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it' Sun(P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton

Deathlist

Chris Ryan

Wolf Winter

Cecilia Ekbäck, Cecilia Ekbäck

Authors:

Cecilia Ekbäck, Cecilia Ekbäck

Winner of the 2016 HWA Goldsboro Debut Crown Award.'Exquisitely suspenseful, beautifully written, and highly recommended.' Lee ChildThere are six homesteads on Blackåsen Mountain.A day's journey away lies the empty town. It comes to life just once, in winter, when the Church summons her people through the snows. Then, even the oldest enemies will gather.But now it is summer, and new settlers are come.It is their two young daughters who find the dead man, not half an hour's walk from their cottage.The father is away. And whether stubborn, or stupid, or scared for her girls, the mother will not let it rest.To the wife who is not concerned when her husband does not come home for three days; to the man who laughs when he hears his brother is dead; to the priest who doesn't care; she asks and asks her questions, digging at the secrets of the mountain.They say a wolf made those wounds. But what wild animal cuts a body so clean?